Svolt Energy Technology Company, the EV battery manufacturer spun off by China’s Great Wall Motor, said it had begun mass production at its newly built electric vehicle (EV) battery assembly plant in Thailand.
Svolt began construction of the plant, a joint venture with local company Banpu Next (Banpu Group), last July near port city Chonburi to supply the EV industry located mainly in nearby Rayong province.
The factory has capacity for 60,000 battery modules and packs per year.
The plant would initially produce batteries for Great Wall Motor locally made Tank, Ora and Haval hybrid and battery electric vehicles (BEVs).
Agreement with China’s Hozon to supply batteries for its locally made Neta BEVs was also said to have been reached.
Svolt, based in Changzhou, Jiangsu, said it expected the Thai factory to deliver 20,000 60kWh battery packs this year using lithium iron phosphate L600 cells which were said to provide range of up to 500km. The cells are currently imported from China.
Svolt also said it had agreed to expand collaboration with Banpu Next to include local production of energy storage systems and battery cells and also battery recycling.
